Late start, high expectations: Aston Martin team boss Adrian Newey explains what’s really behind the black AMR26
Aston Martin team boss Adrian Newey explained on the sidelines of his Formula 1 team’s design presentation why the new AMR26 took to the track in Barcelona for its shakedown completely in black—and not in Aston Martin’s signature “British Racing Green,” which is mostly dark green.
Newey said: “To be honest, the car was completely black because we didn’t have time to wrap it. And it looked fantastic.”
Aston Martin joined the five-day Formula 1 shakedown late: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll’s team missed the first three days and only drove the AMR26 for the first time on the fourth day, under time pressure, for a few laps. It was only on the fifth and final day of the shakedown that Aston Martin really got to drive extensively. This means that ahead of the upcoming Formula 1 test drives in Bahrain, they have a huge experience gap compared to the competition: Aston Martin has only managed around 304 kilometers so far, which is exactly one Grand Prix distance.
By comparison, Formula 1 newcomer Cadillac, the second weakest team, has already covered 771 kilometers, while the second newcomer, Audi, has already covered 1,141 kilometers. Mercedes was the leader in the shakedown with 2,347 kilometers.
Aston Martin’s long road to Barcelona
But Newey is not dissatisfied with Aston Martin’s performance so far and emphasizes the “long, emotional journey full of passion and enormous hard work to even get to Barcelona.”
Just recently, the team boss and technical director of the racing team explained how late Aston Martin really started developing the new Formula 1 car—and for what reasons: Newey himself only joined Aston Martin in March 2025, and the in-house wind tunnel only started operating in April. “The reality is that this set us back about four months and led to a very, very condensed research and development cycle,” said Newey.
